Puigdemont 'flees to Belgium' with five ministers, reports claim

CARLES Puigdemont and five of his now-ex ministers have reportedly fled to Belgium to seek political asylum in the only European country where EU nationals can do so.

They are said to have appointed a lawyer who has previously worked for prisoners belonging to the Basque terrorist cell ETA.

Catalunya's regional president, who was dismissed along with his entire cabinet on Friday by the central government as it took control of the north-eastern territory, is expected to give a press conference at 12.30 this afternoon (Tuesday) from an 'undisclosed location'.

Meritxell Borrs, Meritxell Serret, Antoni Comín, Joaquín Forn and Dolors Bassa are said to have travelled to Brussels yesterday by air via a connecting flight in Marseille, France.

Their flight comes after Belgian immigration minister Theo Francken said Puigdemont could seek asylum in the country – a comment from a Flemish nationalist in favour of Flanders' independence which was not generally taken seriously.

Lawyer Paul Bekaert, said to be working for Puigdemont and the other five, insists the issue of political asylum 'has not been discussed' and that the former Catalunya leader 'is not in Belgium to seek refuge' as 'nothing has been decided yet in that area', according to an interview he gave on Flemish TV station VRT.

Bekaert's office is based in Tielt, in the west of Belgium, and he famously represented ETA terrorist Natividad Jáuregui when Spain called for her return for trial in 2004, 2005 and 2015, successfully leading Belgium to refuse to deport her.

Catalunya's ex-deputy president Oriol Junqueras has refused to comment on Puigdemont's possibly seeking asylum, merely reporting that his former boss 'has gone to Belgium for work'.

President of Belgian Parliament Jan Peumans says he is not aware of any such request being in the pipeline, or of the Catalunya politicians having travelled to the country on duty.

“There's nothing in my diary about a meeting planned with Puigdemont,” he says.

Belgian prime minister Charles Michel, who governs in coalition with Francken's separatist party, the N-VA, but has declined to comment on any possible Catalunya minister flight.

Puigdemont would not be able to apply for asylum on a 'refugee' basis, since Spain is a safe country as defined by Article 33 of the 1951 Geneva Convention on these matters, and his actions – considered by the Spanish prosecution to be 'serious crimes' of 'sedition and rebellion' – committed before seeking asylum would also mean the Geneva Convention would not protect him.

Diplomatic asylum, which only Belgium can offer EU citizens, is classed as the protection of a person at the centre of a political or ideological persecution, and Belgium is allowed to offer this to Europeans under Protocol 24 of the EU Treaty.

This could cause huge controversy and lead to diplomatic tensions between Belgium and Spain.